Cancer patient attitudes toward analgesic usage and pain intervention

The Clinical Journal of Pain, 01/17/2012Simone CB et al.

Most cancer patients perceive pain from their disease or treatment, regardless of therapy received. Many, however, did not use analgesics due to concerns of addiction, cost, or lack of health care provider endorsement. Providers should regularly discuss pain symptoms and management with cancer patients.

Methods

An institutional review board–approved questionnaire assessing pain control and analgesic usage was posted on OncoLink.

Between November 2005 and July 2008, 1107 patients responded.

Respondents were female (73%), white (74%), educated beyond high school (64%), and had surgery (69%), chemotherapy (64%), and radiation (47%).